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I was just thinking about this while cleaning carpet at a trashed apartment with cat sewage smell all over it. The carpet needed pulled up, but you know how these cheap govt. apartments are. I was thinking "why the heck am I wasting this expensive traffic ln. cleaner on this carpet". Wouldn't Tide or Gain or something like that at 32/1 dilution do a good job, or is it too weak for this kind of carpet? And if I can't use it on this kind of trashy carpet, could I use it on decent residential carpet?

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Had a custy who wanted an organic/green detergent which I don't carry, to be used on their carpets. I asked to use their laundry detergent which was organic/green, and it worked just fine. Been back to that same house 3 times now and use it every time with no troubles. Johnny

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Had a custy who wanted an organic/green detergent which I don't carry, to be used on their carpets. I asked to use their laundry detergent which was organic/green, and it worked just fine. Been back to that same house 3 times now and use it every time with no troubles. Johnny

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It was their liquid laundry detergent I used. They told me the get it from Costco, I believe it was labeled Kirkland.
As far as the dilution ratio is concerned, I just poured it into my Hydramaster sprayer and pre-sprayed with it. Then just rinsed with hot water. The sprayer dilutes it at 8 to 1 I think. Johnny

Eco,
Believe it or not, no foam problem at all. Done it 3 times too. I know of a guy that use to use Cascade dish washing machine powder too. That doesn't foam either.
I know people will get riled up about this but Matt asked and I just answered. I'm not advising anyone to use or not to use any of these. Johnny

If a gallon of prespray concentrate, such as Preload, Traffic Slam, or Ultrapac, is on average $32, and I put 16oz into a Hydro-Force and fill the rest with water, then use 3/4 of that Hydro-Force to spray a destroyed 3 bedroom rental home or apartment, then I used $3 worth. Not a bad deal at all.

No need to mess around with grocery store detergents that are meant for use with low temps anyway. They don't work properly with the high temps most of us use. The industry presprays are designed for use with high temps. And they don't have to be expensive if you mix them right. Most say to put 32oz into a Hydro-force. Way too much for me. 16oz or less is just fine, and you don't have to go nuts prespraying. Experiment with very, very light prespray--much less than you think will work. You'll be surprised at how well you can still clean.

Only time I'd use some crazy over the counter stuff is in a scenario like what Chokemaster describes, where it's a special request and the customer already has it. And even then I'd probably balk.

If a gallon of prespray concentrate, such as Preload, Traffic Slam, or Ultrapac, is on average $32, and I put 16oz into a Hydro-Force and fill the rest with water, then use 3/4 of that Hydro-Force to spray a destroyed 3 bedroom rental home or apartment, then I used $3 worth. Not a bad deal at all.

No need to mess around with grocery store detergents that are meant for use with low temps anyway. They don't work properly with the high temps most of us use. The industry presprays are designed for use with high temps. And they don't have to be expensive if you mix them right. Most say to put 32oz into a Hydro-force. Way too much for me. 16oz or less is just fine, and you don't have to go nuts prespraying. Experiment with very, very light prespray--much less than you think will work. You'll be surprised at how well you can still clean.

Only time I'd use some crazy over the counter stuff is in a scenario like what Chokemaster describes, where it's a special request and the customer already has it. And even then I'd probably balk.

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I am completely with eyeball on this, that is just not the place to cut costs, we are professionals and we should use professional products no matter what the circumstances. If you want to maybe experiement with some spotters or something to save some $ then thats fine (I had a super crappy house on Friday that used as much in solvent as like the last 20 houses I had done, I wished I had some of Torrey's PVC cleaner on that one) but not the pre spray.

Also I am sure you would extract better than this, but I do see about once every other month a house were they have used a household cleaner to get something out and the resoling is UNREAL. I had one just today where it was a huge two foot by two foot black spot that just rinsed right out, and you could see it was like a wine spill or something underneath.

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Well, I didn't know it might foam up real bad. If I'm spraying my water at my wand down 500psi on trashed carpet, it should all rinse out if it isn't foaming. I was just in the mindset of "why waste my expensive chemicals on this trashed carpet, when I can buy a $7 gallon of Gain and spray it at the same dilution as my Pro's Choice Fire Water and maybe get the same results, with a good smell also. That was the whole reason I came up with this post.

And Eyeball boy, I think the water temp. wont have anything to do with the cleaning process of the laundry detergent. You know just as well as I do, when you do laundry, the hotter the water when you're cleaning those whites, the better.

Hey guys, if we're willing to try a Bar of Soap for rust stains, why don't we try going as far as the prespray.

No offense Rob, I love your chemicals, I'm not saying totally switch to Laundry Detergent and ditch all your chemicals, I'm just saying "why waste your chemicals on carpet that needs to be pulled out and has no chance".

Well, I didn't know it might foam up real bad. If I'm spraying my water at my wand down 500psi on trashed carpet, it should all rinse out if it isn't foaming. I was just in the mindset of "why waste my expensive chemicals on this trashed carpet, when I can buy a $7 gallon of Gain and spray it at the same dilution as my Pro's Choice Fire Water and maybe get the same results, with a good smell also. That was the whole reason I came up with this post.

And Eyeball boy, I think the water temp. wont have anything to do with the cleaning process of the laundry detergent. You know just as well as I do, when you do laundry, the hotter the water when you're cleaning those whites, the better.

Hey guys, if we're willing to try a Bar of Soap for rust stains, why don't we try going as far as the prespray.

No offense Rob, I love your chemicals, I'm not saying totally switch to Laundry Detergent and ditch all your chemicals, I'm just saying "why waste your chemicals on carpet that needs to be pulled out and has no chance".

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I think this all reflects back on rates.
If we are getting a good rate, then the few bucks we spend on specialty chemicals is no big deal.
But when you find yourself cleaning on the cheap, then every dollar hurts.
We need to keep our rates up, or, if we can only get the job by bidding dirt cheap, be prepared to walk away, or charge add ons for trashed carpets and heavily spotted carpets.
Solvents and red stain removers are both expensive and time consuming.
Just my .02

"Nothing means more than quality,nothing".
"What you do speaks so loud I can't hear what you say".
"Everything I do I do for my family and friends,everything!"
"Money is printed everyday and everyday I'm looking for it."
"It's not your income that determines your wealth,it's your outcome".
"We are all legends in our own minds. Truth is we are all just works in progress".
"When you stick your neck out many will want to take a swing at you. Success is the greatest revenge".

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"Nothing means more than quality,nothing".
"What you do speaks so loud I can't hear what you say".
"Everything I do I do for my family and friends,everything!"
"Money is printed everyday and everyday I'm looking for it."
"It's not your income that determines your wealth,it's your outcome".
"We are all legends in our own minds. Truth is we are all just works in progress".
"When you stick your neck out many will want to take a swing at you. Success is the greatest revenge".

Stop hovering to collapse...Click to collapse...Hover to expand...Click to expand...

"why waste my expensive chemicals on this trashed carpet, when I can buy a $7 gallon of Gain and spray it at the same dilution as my Pro's Choice Fire Water

And Eyeball boy, I think the water temp. wont have anything to do with the cleaning process of the laundry detergent. You know just as well as I do, when you do laundry, the hotter the water when you're cleaning those whites, the better.

Hey guys, if we're willing to try a Bar of Soap for rust stains, why don't we try going as far as the prespray..

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You aren't "wasting" your chemicals on trashed carpet. Trashed carpet is the exact scenario those chemicals are designed for. You would be using them for their intended purpose. Not to mention, as Scott W has said before, if something goes wrong you have the support of the chemical manufacturer if you are using proper industry products. If something gets screwed up by Gain, you're on your own.

The temps do make a difference. The stuff you use for laundry will never be exposed to more than 110, 120 degrees or so. Our industry products are exposed to double that and are designed to work with the higher temps. If you decide to go the Gain route, look inside your wand when you're done. After it's dried out I bet it will be caked with a chalky white substance.

As far as the bar of soap, or Fels, you are localizing it's use to one spot here and there. No big deal. Spraying 900sqft with cheap grocery store laundry detergent is another matter.

I'm not trying to be hard on you. I just want everybody in the industry working up to very high standards because it will distance all of us from the poor reputation carpet cleaners have. Transcend the hackness man. You're better than that. Seriously, it takes less than $5 to blast a nasty rental with super high-end, top of the line prespray. All of us can afford that. It'll get you a better result, it's easier on your equipment, and you won't have to have that nagging worry in the back of your mind whether or not you did the best possible job.